THE INTERTEXTUAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE WORKS OF ALBERT CAMUS AND YUSUF ATILGAN

Abstract

Intertexuality, claimed to have been introduced by Bulgarian-French philosopher and literature critic Julia Kristeva, is a term which maintains that it is unlikely for any work not to be affected by the same kind of work written before. Since it is natural to have an interaction between authors, the authors can make reference to the worldview, philosophy and style of the different authors. With intertextuality, especially espoused by postmodern literary movement, the writers give the readers the opportunity to be conscious throughout the work and have different feelings within it by dynamizing their works. Written many articles and books on this term introduced in the mid of the 20. century, the attention has been drawn to the interaction from each other and different works of authors. Intertexuality encountered in the works of Yusuf Atılgan, one of the most important post-republic Turkish writers, is noteworthy. Yusuf Atılgan’s works contain similar features to Algerian-French writer Albert Camus’s works in terms of theme and topics. Existentialist themes like social alienation, religious alienation, isolation, non-communication and indifference in Camus’s works can be seen also in the works of Yusuf Atılgan. Absurdism, grounded after WWI and originated from Existentialism, gaining acceleration following the WWII has begun to maintain the idea that the life is absurd after the destruction and deaths which these two world wars caused the world witnessed. People migrating from rural areas to cities to find an occupation and not being able to adapt to the city life in a rapidly urbanizing world especially following the Industrial Revolution, have been subject to the literature. It is also regarded as a movement about all the human beings in general like intellectual characters question this absurdism and alienate from society in Camus and Atılgan’s works. It is claimed that Atılgan has been influenced by Camus’s philosophy of absurdism. For instance, Atılgan’s The Wanderer’s protagonist, C’s worldview and lifestyle like social alienation, isolation, non-communication and indiffrence show parallelism with Meursault’s lifestyle in Camus’s The Stranger. In our study, the works of these two writers have been compared in terms of intertextuality.